Heavily favoured against upstart Abby Ackland and playing in front of a raucous hometown crowd of some 1,000 fans, Einarson snuck out a 6-4 win in the 3-vs-4 playoff game to reach Sunday morning’s semifinal.

There she’ll take on Darcy Robertson for the right to face Tracy Fleury for the provincial crown Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Gimli Recreation Centre.

“It was a battle out there,” Einarson said. “Abby’s team made a lot of nice shots and so did she… you can’t take that away from them. You always want to have close games and have that pressure going into the final two games. We’re playing really well.”

In the 1-vs-2 game, Fleury beat Robertson, 8-6, booking her ticket to the final and sending Robertson, previously undefeated, to the semi.

“It’s really exciting,” Fleury said. “Hopefully we can keep it going. One more.”

Fleury was brought in from Ontario to take over the team Einarson left: third Selena Njegovan, second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish.

With Einarson at the helm, the three had made last year’s Canadian championship as the wildcard team and reached the final before losing to Jennifer Jones.

Einarson recruited three skips to make up her new team this season: Alberta’s Val Sweeting plus locals Shannon Birchard and Briane Meilleur.

The foursome has clicked immediately on tour, winning four events, going 6-1 this week and reaching Sunday’s semi.

NEW FORMAT, BAD REVIEWS

Despite finishing atop her pool with a 6-1 mark, Einarson was relegated to the 3-vs-4 game because of the new playoff format.

Instead of the top two teams from each pool getting spots, with 1-vs-1 and 2-vs-2 playoff matchups, the teams were seeded 1-4, regardless of pools.

Fleury, also with a 6-1 mark but in the other pool, got the second spot in the coveted 1-vs-2 game based on the draw-to-the-button competition.

It’s hard to find players who like the new format.

“The 1-1 game is the two teams from that pool, and the 3-4 game is two teams in our pool – and that’s not really fair to me,” Beth Peterson, who lost a Saturday tiebreaker to Ackland, said. “Kerri deserves to be in the 1-1 game. If the players have a say in it I don’t think (the new format) will last. But I don’t know how much of a say they have.”

Einarson had voiced a similar opinion even before she was victimized by the new system.

“We didn’t get into the 1-vs-1 game, which is unfortunate,” she said. “I feel like that’s not really fair. But I can’t do anything about it. I didn’t like it from the start. If it worked before, I don’t know…”

CINDERELLA STORY

Ackland, in her first Scotties, reached the 3-vs-4 game by winning a Saturday afternoon tiebreaker, 8-7, over Peterson.

Both had finished the round-robin with 5-2 records.

It was just the 24-year-old Ackland’s third game this week, as training to be a Winnipeg paramedic had kept her away until Friday night.

Her team went 3-2 with substitute skips, then 3-0 with her back in charge to grab the fourth playoff spot.

“I never doubted them for a second,” Ackland said of teammates Hailey Ryan, Emilie Rafnson and Sara Oliver. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s definitely nerve-wracking. But my team’s amazing. We just pull on each other. We’re all pretty good at staying calm.

“We’re in a zone.”

They gave Einarson all she could handle, too.

FALL-BACK PLAN

Einarson could still reach the Canadian championship even if she doesn’t win Manitoba.

As one of the top two teams in the country, she’d have a berth in the wildcard play-in game that takes place just before the national Scotties.

But she made her feelings clear about that fall-back plan.

“I want that buffalo on my back,” she said. “So I would like to wear the yellow and white rather than focus on that. And win it in my home town.”

Fleury would also be in contention for the wild-card game should she fail to win in Gimli, depending on whether other top teams win titles in their provinces.

F-F-F-FANTASTIC

Despite the frigid temperatures, the arena parking lot and the stands were nearly full for Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday evening games.

Crowds approached 1,000 at their peak, making plenty of noise for their favourite skip.

“I’m very proud,” Einarson said. “Thanks to all the fans and family that have come out to support us. It’s really, truly amazing. I’ve seen fans here that I haven’t seen throughout the whole season, and my cousins, my uncles, even some of my co-workers came out, and even one of my residents.”

Einarson, who works at a personal care home in Gimli, was posing for photos with an elderly resident after her morning win.

“That’s Mike,” she said. “He always cheers me on and stays up until midnight to watch me curl. He’s a huge curling fan.”

The 31-year-old is hoping to make a few more on Sunday.

STARS OF THE WEEK

To no one’s surprise, Robertson was named the all-star skip, with Team Ackland’s Ryan the all-star third, Birchard (Team Einarson) the second and MacCuish (Team Fleury) the lead.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.